 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I love James Newton Howard‘s WYATT EARP - but for my taste it is much too heroic for the movie which should have gotten a more downbeat, subtle score.
I second this big time. I don't know who started it, but that wave of 90's westerns like this, TOMBSTONE, SILVERADO, all that that really cheesy second-hand-thrift-store Americana / Copland vibe (I kind of want to blame Bruce Broughton, haha).
To your point it's not BAD music... it's just really cheesy for the films. Like super on-the-nose to the point that it sounds cheap and comedic.
I don't know how UNFORGIVEN escaped that sound, but I always thought that score worked really well. A little bit too thriller/suspense at times, but it gave the film a fresh perspective.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Or even "Shadow of a Doubt" - the music is melodramatic, but on par with most film scores of the period AND the film itself is pretty melodramatic.
Maybe on par with other film scores of the period by certain composers, but Roy Webb, Alfred Newman, Hugo Friedhofer, David Raksin, Miklos Rozsa, Bernard Herrmann and yes even Erich Wolfgang Korngold (who many might consider melodramatic?) amply demonstrated considerably more ability at subtlety in their film scoring during this era. I grew up on old movies so I'm quite familiar and comfortable with the Golden Age style of musical accompaniment... and despite that I reiterate that Tiomkin's Shadow of a Doubt absolutely ruins the film, for me. The era is no excuse.
Yavar
|
|
|
|
|
|
I never said Thunderball didn't work. i said it was less successful. Also less original than Goldfinger. I love the song, and the instrumental version on the album is among my favorite Barry pieces. But it is clearly cut from the same cloth as Goldfinger. That's why songs like Goldfinger, You Only Live Twice, Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and We Have All the Time in the World--that are all following no established success blueprint--are a cut or several cuts ahead.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Or even "Shadow of a Doubt" - the music is melodramatic, but on par with most film scores of the period AND the film itself is pretty melodramatic.
Maybe on par with other film scores of the period by certain composers, but Roy Webb, Alfred Newman, Hugo Friedhofer, David Raksin, Miklos Rozsa, Bernard Herrmann and yes even Erich Wolfgang Korngold (who many might consider melodramatic?) amply demonstrated considerably more ability at subtlety in their film scoring during this era. I grew up on old movies so I'm quite familiar and comfortable with the Golden Age style of musical accompaniment... and despite that I reiterate that Tiomkin's Shadow of a Doubt absolutely ruins the film, for me. The era is no excuse.
Yavar
It's a good point that there are also scores from the same period that are more subtle. I do like the film a lot, the music doesn't really bother me (it's also not really a film that needs music) but I noticed the town intro music was a little bit excessively fluffy, and there's a scene in the beginning where Joseph Cotton's character has an angry outburst and throws a glass at a wall and the orchestra matches it with a huge outburst. That was a little silly.
Kind of reminds me of Dr. No when the orchestra scores EVERY hit as Connery whacks the scary spider!
But yeah, otherwise Shadow of a Doubt doesn't bother me too much - it's a shame it ruins the movie for you because it's such a good movie!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Star Trek: Generations - McCarthy's score is as dull as TNG ones.
RoboCop 2 - a fun movie that would have benefited from a better score.
The Princess Bride - this score really needs a real orchestra.
But those examples are again just scores you don't seem to like, which is not the point of this thread.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I love James Newton Howard‘s WYATT EARP - but for my taste it is much too heroic for the movie which should have gotten a more downbeat, subtle score.
I remember reading an interview with Kasdan at the time of the film's release and he said the same thing, that he felt the music was too dramatic at times.
The director said something like this at the time of the movie's release?
(I love the score and I even like the movie, and think the score is excellent within the context of the film, so it's an odd statement for a director to say when the movie is still in the running.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well everything is subjective, of course. Otherwise we're talkimg about scores that mathematically don't fit their scenes due to the incorrect number of beats in a bar! But The Princess Bride is properly bad (though there will be some who love it).
Of course it's all subjective, anyone may react differently, but obviously, if one simply does not like a piece of music, it feels out of place no matter where. But the original question was not about "bad" underscore, but rather about the "wrong" use of music, about music that just doesn't fit. Music that is unintentionally working against the movie. Obviously, all "bad" music is always working against anything, so there is not much point in pointing to movies or scenes where one simply dislikes the music.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
